Graphic of Tommy Orange Event

There, There:A Conversation with Tommy Orange

Wednesday, October 7th 7:30 p.m. via Crowdcast

About the Event

As all of the unique characters in Tommy Orange’s novel, There, There hurtle toward the Big Oakland Powwow, their journeys explore their Indian identites. The New York Times calls it “A new kind of American epic… one that reflects his ambivalence and the complexity of [Orange’s] upbringing.” This complexity includes fractured families, Oakland itself, and a detachment from tradition that makes an Indian identity seem even more elusive. The Washington Post calls this fierce, funny, and suspenseful book that tackles a complex and painful history  “masterful . . . white-hot . . . [and] devastating.” There, There was named one of the Best Books of the Year by numerous publications including The New York Times Book Review, Time, and NPR. Orange is a faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts MFA program. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Oakland, California and currently lives in Angels Camp, California. Orange will be in conversation with Kirstin Squint. Sponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation.

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Tommy Orange

About Tommy Orange

Tommy Orange is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel There There, a multi-
generational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. There There was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year, and won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Pen/Hemingway Award. There There was also longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Orange graduated from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and was a 2014 MacDowell Fellow and a 2016 Writing by Writers Fellow. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Oakland, California.

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